A to Z of
Honey Bees And Beekeeping
G - J
G
Guard bee
A bee tasked with monitoring potential threats to the hive, such as from wasps
and other ‘stranger’ bees. In the event
of a threat, guard bees emit a pheromone which alerts other colony members.
Girolami, Vincenzo
Primary author of a scientific paper highlighting the potential risk of exposure to bees from neonicotinoid pesticides through guttation.
H
Haemoglymph
The bee’s body fluid or ‘bee blood’.
Hefting
Lifting a hive in order to determine the weight, and
hence availability of food supplies for feeding the honey bee colony.
Hive
Structure used for the purpose of housing domesticated bees. See types of bee hive.
Hive Tool
A handy tool used by beekeepers for scraping as well as levering and separating
frames. See more in beekeeping equipment.
Honey
Sucrose (nectar) + invertase (bee enzyme) = fructose + glucose
(honey).
See what is honey? and how do
bees make honey?
Honey
flow
The period of time in the year when nectar availability from flowers is at its
peak – a key foraging time for bees.
Honeycomb
Wax, hexagonal cells containing honey.
Hygenic
Behaviour
The habit of bees describing the maintenance of cleanliness of bees about
themselves and within the hive and colony.
It includes removing dead bees and diseased larvae, as well as grooming
of colony members. Watch this video of a bee grooming away varroa mite.
I
Imidacloprid
One
of the neonicotinoid insecticides restricted by the EU. Read more about bees and neonicotinoids.
Isle
Of Wight Disease
A
disease first found on the Isle of Wight, UK in 1904. The tracheal mite, Acarine, or Acarapis
woodii are thought to be a major
factor. It affects the breathing tubes
(trachea) of the bees. The origin of the
mite (where the mite had come from) is not known. Acarine can lead to the collapse of a whole
colony if infestation is severe.
Although there is no known treatment, it is generally thought to pose a
low threat in the UK these days, although Tracheal mites had a
negative impact on the beekeeping industry in North America, after it arrived
in North America in the 1980s from Mexico.
Italian
Bee – Apis mellifera ligustica
Generally
thought of as a bee with good temperament from the perspective of
beekeepers. It is reputed to produce a
large honey crop, and rarely swarms.
J
Jelly
(See
royal jelly)
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